A lawyer representing President-elect Donald Trump's new Washington hotel said Tuesday her client and a celebrity chef whom Trump was suing for breach of contract were at an "impasse" and expected to go to trial.
Rebecca Woods, who represents Trump Old Post Office LLC, told District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Brian Holeman talks between she and restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian broke down last year, The Washington Post reported.
"We continue to talk settlements in good faith, but we are at an impasse," she said.
Zakarian's attorney, Deborah Baum, concurred.
Woods said she saw no need for additional formal mediation talks.
Holeman then set a pretrial conference hearing for May 17, adding if an agreement was not reached he would hear the case himself and not a jury, according to The Post.
Trump opened the 263-room Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue in September.
Zakarian pulled out of a deal to open a restaurant there last fall, citing Trump's negative statements slamming illegal Mexican immigrants.
Trump sued Zakarian for $10 million, estimating expected losses after the chef acted, the Post reported.
Trump's representatives have raised the estimated losses to about $14 million in recent filings.
In addition, the president-elect will be deposed next week in New York in a lawsuit against another celebrity chef, José Andrés.
Andrés also withdrew from the Washington project because of comments on illegals, according to The Post.
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